PY3PES1-Common Problems and Processes in Education Settings

Module Provider: Psychology
Number of credits: 20 [10 ECTS credits]
Level:6
Terms in which taught: Autumn / Spring / Summer module
Pre-requisites:
Non-modular pre-requisites: Co-requisites: PY3FPC1, PY3EAC1, PY3LIC1, PY3WES1 and PY3IES1 must be passed.
Co-requisites: PY3FPC1 Fundamental Principles for Working with Children and Young People and PY3EAC1 Engagement and Assessment of Common Mental Health Problems in Children and Young People and PY3LIC1 Evidence-Based Low Intensity Interventions for Children and Young People and PY3WES1 Working, Assessing and Engaging in Education Settings and PY3IES1 Interventions for Emerging Mental Health Difficulties in Education Settings
Modules excluded:
Current from: 2021/2

Module Convenor: Dr Alison Wheeler
Email: alison.wheeler@reading.ac.uk

Type of module:

Summary module description:

Education Mental Health Practitioners (EMHPs) will provide support and interventions in schools and colleges that acknowledge the broad range of difficulties experienced by many children and young people and which have adverse effects on their wellbeing.  These will include common adverse experiences, traumatic events and common problems occurring in education settings. EMHPs will work within a model of the child and young person that recognises both the effects of adversity on children and the limits of their autonomy. They will promote the wellbeing of children and young people by supporting their cognitive, emotional, social and physical development in the context of their family, school and other systems. The module will draw on theory and research evidence about development and child and adolescent mental health to promote understanding and to support psychoeducation to help children and young people understand and tolerate negative emotions (e.g. worry, sadness, anger, frustration). The module will introduce support for education staff through training, and whole school approaches such as peer mentoring and supporting classroom management. EMHPs will need an understanding of the complexity of children’s, young peoples and families’ health, educational, social needs and the services available to support young people’s mental health.

Aims:

This module will help students to develop an understanding of common areas of adversity and disadvantage and the cumulative impact of these and associated risk factors which will include children and young people with Special Educational Needs (SEND) and Vulnerable groups including  Looked After Children (LAC); help them to acquire knowledge and skills in supporting school /college staff, parents/carers, and children and young people to identify common problems experienced by children and young people in schools and colleges and which have adverse effects of wellbeing which includes (but are not limited to) bullying, challenges in peer relationships, examination stress, bereavement and loss, family conflict and breakdown, relocation, trauma and abuse. Students will also have the opportunity to develop skills in identifying children and young people who are at risk of or are experiencing these common problems, skills and knowledge to help schools/colleges, parents/carers, and children and young people anticipate and manage common problems and support those who are experiencing them such as interventions to support and manage common problems in schools/colleges include peer support, CBT informed anxiety/exam stress management, transitions; and help to understand and develop competency in common process that underpin therapeutic and organizational processes in education settings.

Assessable learning outcomes:

Students must demonstrate

1. Understanding of child and adolescent development and the impact of adverse life events on psychological well-being and mental health


2. Ability to critically evaluate the impact of risk and protective factors on the well-being and mental health of children and young people.


3. Ability to identify indicators of distress or impaired well-being in children and young people and demonstrate awareness of the disti nction between transient distress and symptoms of mental ill-health.


4. Ability to provide evidence-based information and psychoeducation to children and young people, parents/carers and education staff.


5. Understanding of how peer support and interpersonal relationships are related to well-being and mental health in children and young people. Critical evaluation of structured peer support as an intervention to promote well-being and improve mental health. Train and su pport CYP and staff to provide / implement structured peer support in schools and colleges for CYP who are experiencing common problems.


6. Support and provide structured workshops and training, based on CBT principles, to help CYP, parents/carers and teachers to manage anxiety and stress


7. Support school staff in classroom skills, including contingency management, that support mental health and wellbeing

Additional outcomes:

Outline content:

The module will comprise of in-class and online teaching, clinical skills practice/supervised clinical practice, supervision in-service and independent study.

Clinical Supervision



• Each student will have clinical supervision weekly in a group of no more than 6.

• Recorded material from training cases should be included at some point during a significant majority of supervision sessions.

At the end of the course when clinical work has been completed the supervisor will be asked to complete a pro-forma assessment form and indicate whether or not a student has reached a satisfactory level of clinical practice.

The teaching will be supplemented by an equivalent number of hours of clinical practice in the workplace under supervision of an experienced practitioner and supervisor.

Global context:

The content follows a national curriculum.

Brief description of teaching and learning methods:

The aims of this module will be achieved through a series of lectures, seminars, discussion groups, guided reading, self-practice/self-reflection activities, problem-based learning tasks, and independent study. Skills based competencies will be learnt through a combination of clinical simulation in small groups working intensively under close supervision with peer and tutor feedback. In addition, they will be supplemented by e-learning material and experience of assessment and treatment of cl ients within the workplace (under close supervision in the workplace). Teaching will be provided by course tutors, with some national and international experts where appropriate. 

Contact hours

To include approximately 10 days in total to be split between in-class and online teaching, clinical simulation, and university-directed learning days to be spent undertaking practice-based learning and e-learning activities. These will last from 9.30 to 4.30 pm unless otherwise stated. Teaching days comprise of 50% clinical skills practice on average. In addition, teaching will be supplemented by experience of assessment and treatment of clients within the workplace (supervised in the workplace).

Teaching contact hours:

The total minimum teaching contact hours (including clinical skills workshops) across all modules for the EMHP course is 373.75 hours (65 University days; inc luding university-directed learning days).

Contact hours:

	Autumn	Spring	Summer
Lectures	11.5	40.25	5.75
Guided independent study:
Wider reading (independent)	38.5	79.5	24.5
Total hours by term	50	119.75	30.25
Total hours for module	200

Summative Assessment Methods:

Method	Percentage
Oral assessment and presentation	100

Summative assessment- Examinations:

Summative assessment- Coursework and in-class tests:

There is only one assessment in this module.

1. Presentation on interventions in an education setting of delivering or actively facilitating peer mentoring, staff training or psychoeducation workshops.

Formative assessment methods:

Penalties for late submission:

The Support Centres will apply the following penalties for work submitted late:

• where the piece of work is submitted after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): 10% of the total marks available for that piece of work will be deducted from the mark for each working day (or part thereof) following the deadline up to a total of five working days;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than five working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): a mark of zero will be recorded.

The University policy statement on penalties for late submission can be found at: http://www.reading.ac.uk/web/FILES/qualitysupport/penaltiesforlatesubmission.pdf
You are strongly advised to ensure that coursework is submitted by the relevant deadline. You should note that it is advisable to submit work in an unfinished state rather than to fail to submit any work.

Assessment requirements for a pass:

A mark of at least 50% in the assessment.  

100% attendance on taught days is expected. The minimum requirement is for 80% live attendance of teaching in each module in order to pass the programme.

If, for any reason, a trainee misses a teaching session, they will be expected to access a video of the missed teaching followed by either a tutorial or a 500 word reflection (as determined by the course team). Topping-up missed teaching in this way is evidenced in the Portfolio assessment which sits within PY3LIC-1. If attendance falls below 80% for any module it will not be possible to use top-up alone to compensate for missed sessions.

Reassessment arrangements:

Students who do not obtain the required pass mark in the assessed work will be given the opportunity to resubmit, on one further occasion, any individual assessment that has been failed. The resit grade cannot exceed 50%.

Completion of studies is dependent on employment within a MHST partnered with University of Reading and ongoing access to a CYP MH appropriate clinical caseload. Students must successfully pass all modules of the training programme. Therefore, a student’s studies may be terminated if they are no longer employed by a partnership service, no longer have access to an ongoing CYP MH appropriate caseload, or fail coursework at second attempt.

Additional Costs (specified where applicable):

1) Required text books: None

2) Specialist equipment or materials: None

3) Specialist clothing, footwear or headgear: None

4) Printing and binding: None

5) Computers and devices with a particular specification: None

6) Travel, accommodation and subsistence: None

Last updated: 16 September 2021